Abstracts

 

001. Carlos Ramos, María Eugenia Suárez-Ojeda, Julián Carrera. GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Biodegradation of a high-strength wastewater containing a mixture of ammonium, aromatic compounds and salts with simultaneous nitritation in an aerobic granular reactor. Process Biochemistry, 2016, Vol. 51 (3), Page: 399–407.


      Long-term operation (390 days) of a continuous airlift reactor with aerobic granular biomass was successfully applied to treat a highly complex wastewater composed of: ammonium (1000 mg N L−1), o-cresol (100 mg L−1), phenol (100 mg L−1), quinoline (50 mg L−1) and salts (16 g salts L−1). High nitrogen loading rate (1.1 g N L−1 d−1) and organic loading rate of 0.7 (g COD L−1 d−1) were achieved for the simultaneous nitrification and complete biodegradation of the aromatic compounds. The successful operation of the granular airlift reactor can be related to (i) the growth of specialized microorganisms in the aerobic granules and (ii) the continuous feeding regime. Aerobic granules were maintained stable in spite of the high salinity conditions. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and DO/ammonium concentrations ratio were the key parameters to select a suitable effluent for anammox or heterotrophic denitrification via nitrite. Besides, nitrous oxide emissions were related to the DO concentration in the reactor.

 

Keywords: Partial nitrification; Phenolic compounds; Salinity; Nitrous oxide.

 

002. Kathleen McDonough, Nina Itrich, Erin Schwab, Thomas Federle. The Procter and Gamble Company, Mason, Ohio, USA. Determination of biodegradation rates for surfactants and a fatty alcohol in aerobic sediment using a simplified test system. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2016.


      The development of specific regulatory persistence criteria and a growing need to conduct risk assessments in sediment has increased the need to better understand fate in this compartment. A simplified test approach was developed to assess the fate of chemicals in aerobic sediments and was used to evaluate the biodegradation of 14C-labeled representative analogs of alcohol sulfate (AS), alcohol ethoxylate (AE), alcohol ethoxy sulfate (AES), linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) and tetradecanol in two different sediments. The method provides kinetic data on primary and ultimate biodegradation in sediments as well as information on biodegradation pathways and metabolites. All the test materials exhibited extensive biodegradation in both sediments and disappearance of parent exhibited biphasic kinetics, described by a two-compartment model, and mineralization was coupled to parent disappearance with little accumulation of metabolites. The first compartment decay rates ranged from 10.8 - 17.1 d−1 for tetradecanol, 2.54 - 24.8 d−1 for AS, 0.17 - 0.75 d−1 for AE, 0.41 - 0.71 d−1 for AES, and 0.26 - 1.25 d−1 for LAS. These rates corresponded to half-lives ranging from 0.041 to 4.35 d. This method's simplicity and focus on only sediment associated processes offers potential benefits over the current OECD 308 aerobic sediment-water test.

ENVIS CENTRE Newsletter Vol.14, Issue 1, Jan - Mar 2016
 
 
Copyright © 2005 ENVIS Centre ! All rights reserved This site is optimized for 1024 x 768 screen resolution Query Form | Feedback | Privacy